"There is not a bad team in this competition" – Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith is enjoying the challenge of the URC
10/08/2024 04:26 AM
Glasgow coach Franco Smith says there has been improvement across the board in the URC on the evidence of the opening three rounds. Smith's side beat Cardiff 52-36 as they touched down eight times in a 13-try rollercoaster at the Arms Park, with the South African saying it reminded him of Super Rugby.
"It had real entertainment value to it. It's good for the competition," he said. "Both teams wanted to play. It just shows the quality of the players that's out there.
"It was a very inspired Cardiff team. They must be complimented for the fight they put into the game and the way they put us under pressure. We were completely rattled at one stage, but we problem-solved and found a way to win."
Smith added: "There is not a bad team in this competition, there's not a badly coached side. It's evident to me that everybody has improved already in the first three rounds. It's clear new lessons have been learned. We are in BKT URC four and every year somebody takes something forward."
Giving his thoughts, Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt said: "It was a rollercoaster game. It was helter skelter, end to end with 80-plus points. It must have been a pretty good game to watch for the neutral.
"I spoke to Franco Smith afterwards and he said he'd never seen so many good individual tries. There was a lot of good play from both teams and a couple of snap shots from some quality individuals. It was certainly a pretty eventful game."
Among the sub plots was Cardiff having to go down to 14 players for the last half hour due to the game going to uncontested scrums after they lost both hookers to injuries.
"We showed a lot of fight, we could easily have rolled over. It could have been a lot messier than it was," said Sherratt. To go down to 14 men with 30 minutes to go against the best team in the competition last year and to get within four points at one stage was a hell of a fightback by the players.
"Ultimately, it was always going to be a tough ask against a quality side like Glasgow. They are a champion team for a reason. You play Leinster and it can almost be a bit of a slow poison. They just take it out of your legs over the 80 minutes. Against Glasgow, they can score very quickly with two people going the length of the field."
While Cardiff certainly contributed significantly to the contest, scoring five tries of their own, they didn't help their cause by missing no fewer than 27 tackles.
"We will obviously look at the defensive lapses. Against Glasgow, you have got to cut those out," said Sherratt. They are always going to score tries, so you have got to minimise those individual tries they score and we probably gave them two or three that were too easy.
"It was one of those games where almost every tackle we missed ended in seven points."
Winger Kyle Rowe and 20-point fly-half Tom Jordan both crossed twice for the visitors, while the pick of the tries was a superb solo effort from Player of the Match Sione Tuipulotu, with Sherratt dubbing the Scotland centre as one of the top three 12s in world rugby.
Quotes provided by United Rugby Championship
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